The Moon
by YamiShiningFriendship
Summary: Protectshipping


A/N: AU set before modern technology. Also, I might use spirit and god interchangeably, just so you know, based on mortal/immortal pov. Also, I realized that I greatly dislike using dialogue for some odd reason for certain types of stories.

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh, I never have, never will.

When Tristan was little, he always tended to look up at the sky. The moon and all of the stars in the sky greatly intrigued him. He used to ask all sorts of questions like, what they were, how they got up there and so on. One of the things that Tristan wondered the most was the moon's phases and where the moon went when it disappeared from the sky.

Finally, when he was thirteen, the Elders of the village decided to answer some of his questions about the moon. Sitting him down, the Elder told him about the spirit of the moon. According to the Elder, the moon housed a spirit who lit the moon with his light. To mark the passage of time, the spirit would show his light and make it slide across the moon, slowly but surely, and then extinguish it slowly but surely as it reached the other side of the moon. The moon spirit seemed to mimic the sun's orbit in the sky with his movement of his light.

When Tristan asked about the nights when the light of the moon wasn't visible, the Elders had no answer. They speculated that the spirit of the moon exhausted himself trying to mimic the sun and was forced to rest and regenerate his light for a few days. Tristan had a feeling that there was more to it than that, but let it go.

As Tristan got older, he became a hunter for his village. He enjoyed the task because he could get out of the village and be himself while he was alone for up to days on end. Looking up on his current hunting trip, Tristan noted that there was the barest sliver of the moon left in the sky. There would be no moon the next night. With a small frown, for he enjoyed the moonlight on him since it gave him the feeling that it kept him company, Tristan pressed on and continued to track the deer he had been following.

…

Up in the cosmos, in the realm of the gods, Ryou the moon spirit yawned and stretched. He was ready for a break. Atemu, the sun god, was lucky. He only had to show his ever radiant light for half of the day. Poor Ryou had to keep his light going, even during the day. As compensation, he and Atemu had agreed to give him a few day vacation each month so he could rest and recharge. Normally he would spend his few days off with his way overprotective brother, Bakura, who was in charge of the sky and stars. This month, however, he wanted to explore the Earth.

"Are you sure you want to go down there?" asked a voice from behind him. Ryou turned and smiled at his brother standing behind him. Bakura must have been fretting about the trip enough to come visit Ryou before he left.

"I'll be fine," he assured, still smiling, "Atemu said that if you're going to fret enough, you can ask Yugi to keep an eye on me."

"I'm not going to ask the twerp anything!" Bakura howled in protest, "I'm not that over-protective!" Crossing his arms, Bakura huffed. He hated depending on others, more specifically the multi-colored siblings.

"Don't let Atemu hear you calling his brother a twerp," Ryou laughed before turning to gaze out over the earth, planning out where he would go. He wanted to see the life on earth up close. He wanted to interact with them, not just watch them from afar. Feeling Bakura's arms wrap around him from behind, Ryou leaned back into his brother's embrace with a content sigh. "I know you'll miss me, you're used to me being around," Ryou murmured, "However, I'll be back in a few days and you can still watch over me."

"True," came the answering sigh, "But it doesn't mean I have to like it."

…

The next night Tristan was moving in the forest, looking for a good place to camp for the night when he spotted a faint glow up ahead. Curiously, Tristan pressed forward, trying to figure out where the light came from. It was a soft white glow, so Tristan knew it wasn't natural…whatever it was. As he approached a clearing, Tristan noticed the glow dimming until it vanished completely. Reaching the edge of the clearing, Tristan stopped in surprise. There, standing in the middle of the clearing, stood a boy. He was dressed in a white tunic over white pants. In fact, he was mostly white. The boy had pale skin and snow white hair that Tristan bet that if the moon were visible, it'd look like it was glowing. The starlight already gave it a silvery sheen.

There was something about this boy that rendered Tristan unable to speak for a moment. Finally gathering up his courage and wits, Tristan called out to the boy. "Hello?" Tristan called softly, "Who are you?"

Ryou started and turned to look at Tristan in mild surprise. He had just finished getting to Earth, and already he had contact with one of the mortals. Now he just needed to think of a reason why he was alone in the woods at night. "Hello," he replied in a soft voice, "My name is Ryou. I'm afraid that I have gotten myself turned around and am lost. Who are you?"

Tristan moved further into the clearing, slinging his bow onto his back. "I'm Tristan. You must have gotten quite lost too be this far out. As far as I know, my village is the only one around here," he replied, "I'm a hunter for my village so if you're willing, I'll take you back there and maybe one of the Elders can tell you how to get back home," he offered. Something about Ryou drew him to the pale boy, almost as if he knew him.

Ryou tipped his head and smiled. "That sounds like a good idea," he replied after a pause, "thank you."

Tristan nodded and beckoned for Ryou to follow him, heading back towards the village. As they walked, Ryou and Tristan talked, getting to know each other. Tristan didn't learn a lot about Ryou; just mainly that he had a majorly overprotective older brother who was probably going nuts with Ryou gone. Ryou had apologized that he really didn't have too much history, that it was just him and his brother. To make the story more believable, Ryou had added that he and his brother were estranged from their village due to their unusual looks.

In return for telling Tristan about his 'history,' Ryou learned that Tristan had an older sister who already had a child. Tristan also gave Ryou some forewarning about his village's Elders, for they liked to poke, prod, and learn all they could about someone. When they got into the village, Ryou drew closer to Tristan at hearing the immediate whispering. "Tristan, why are they whispering?" he asked with a hint of uneasiness.

"Hmm? Oh, no reason except the fact that you're new," Tristan assured Ryou, wrapping a hand around him companionably, missing the faint blush that Ryou now sported. Guiding Ryou forwards, Tristan took Ryou to see the Elders. After quite a lengthy question and answer session, the Elders decided that Ryou was to stay with Tristan until they could locate the village that Ryou came from.

Tristan took Ryou with him when he went out to resume his hunting trip the next day. It was quite enjoyable for Tristan, teaching Ryou how to track. Ryou greatly enjoyed learning whatever Tristan had to teach, which caused the two to become quite close. Ryou was starting to enjoy living this way and not having his duties to worry about. As the time for his departure came, Ryou found himself not wanting to return to his home. Unfortunately there were other plans. On the night before Ryou was to start showing his light again, he had a rather unwelcome visitor, at least in his eyes.

"Ryou!" he all of a sudden heard as he and Tristan were settling down to sleep. Looking up, Ryou smiled a half smile at seeing Bakura emerge from the tree-line, a scowl on his face.

"Hello Bakura," he greeted. Bakura's scowl, if anything darkened at seeing Tristan looking between the two.

"You're cutting it close Ryou, we need to go," he growled out.

"Cutting what close?" Tristan asked, curious as to the interaction.

Bakura's mouth morphed into a cruel smirk. "You mean you didn't tell him the truth, Ryou, that you're the spirit of the moon?" he sneered, grabbing Ryou's wrist. "Come on, we're leaving."

Tristan watched in despair as Ryou was dragged off by his brother. Now he knew why he had been drawn to Ryou. He always had been drawn to the moon, and now it was just his luck that he had to fall for the moon as well.


End file.
